Matador

The Nazi Buzz Bomb Goes Nuclear

The Matador’s warhead is the W5, a modified Mark 5 nuclear bomb.

The Matador was said to use low-cost materials and an engine rated for only ten hours of use in order to keep costs down.

The Matador, unlike most airplanes, used two panels on the top of its wings that could pop up which allowed the missile to turn.

Another view of the tail section. This particular Matador was assigned to service in Germany and was decommissioned in 1959, now at the Museum of Aviation at Robbins AFB in Georgia.

The paint job on this Matador, which may be original, indicates it is an earlier unit. The “X” stands for “experimental,” “TM” stands for “tactical missile,” and the “61” is the identifier for the Matador. Located at the Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Airport, near Hawkinsville, Georgia.

Aside from the painted letters on the Matador itself, I could find no sign or other information on this display, located at the the small Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Airport. During my two hour visit I saw a scattering of buildings and one man walking around who may have worked at the airport.

There were three versions of the Matador. The “A version” is the most commonly seen today. The “C” version differed primarily in its more advanced communications and guidance system. The “B” version was never produced, instead quickly morphing into the Mace missile which replaced the Matador. Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Airport, in Georgia.

The Matador and the Mace look very similar to each other. I found the easiest way to differentiate between the two is to look at the tail--a smooth vertical is the Matador. A "ribbed" tail is the Mace. This image from the Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Airport. — The Matador and the Mace look very similar to each other. I found the easiest way to differentiate between the two is to look at the tail–a smooth vertical is the Matador. A “ribbed” tail is the Mace. This image from the Hawkinsville-Pulaski County Airport.

VFW and American Legion posts will often have a display of military equipment out front, commonly artillery, tanks, or a helicopter. This VFW location (Post 160) in Glen Bernie, Maryland, has a nuclear missile.

The trailer in this image, much smaller and lighter in capability than the contemporary photographs that I have seen, does not appear to be the original. VFW Post 160 in Glen Burnie, Maryland.

Matadors could, since they were pilotless, strike heavily defended sites, attack at night, and (perhaps) fly during bad weather when enemy planes were grounded. As a mobile weapon it would have been hard to find and destroy. VFW Post 160, Glen Burnie, Maryland.

A rear view of the Matador at VFW Post 160 (Glen Burnie, MD). The range on the "A" model was limited to a theoretical 250 miles, which assumed line-of-sight from the Matador to the nearest radio operator with no interference or jamming. I have no idea what would have happened if the Air Force lost the signal to an armed weapon while in flight. — A rear view of the Matador at VFW Post 160 (Glen Burnie, MD). The range on the “A” model was limited to a theoretical 250 miles, which assumed line-of-sight from the Matador to the nearest radio operator with no interference or jamming. I have no idea what would have happened if the Air Force lost the signal to an armed weapon while in flight.

This is the "C" model of the Matador, nested in amongst other artifacts at the Smithsonian Air & Space Annex in Chantilly, Virginia, had an improved radio system which required only two radios operators to control the weapon and which also allowed the range to extend to 600 miles. — This is the “C” model of the Matador, nested in amongst other artifacts at the Smithsonian Air & Space Annex in Chantilly, Virginia, had an improved radio system which required only two radios operators to control the weapon and which also allowed the range to extend to 600 miles.

Weapon Specifications

Note that the relationship between explosive power and destruction is not linear—a weapon’s destructive effects grow far more slowly than its explosive power.

Explosive Power

50 kt.

Hiroshima Equivalent Factor

3.33x

Dimensions

39.5 ft. x 4.5 ft.

Weight

Approx. 6 tons

Year(s)

1952-1962

Range

250 miles (A version), 620 miles (C version)

Purpose

First surface-to-surface nuclear cruise missile

NukeMap

Simulated destruction of a Matador as if detonated at Santa Ana, California. Click on the map to change parameters.

Videos

These curated videos provide additional context for this weapon — showing test footage, deployment scenes, technical explanations, interviews, or other historical material, allowing viewers to go deeper into the weapon’s design, use, and place in nuclear history.

MGM-1 MATADOR GUIDED MISSILE GLENN L. MARTIN COMPANY 49904, 18 minutes

Periscope Film: The Martin MGM-1 Matador was the first operational surface-to-surface cruise missile built by the United States. It was similar in concept to the German V-1, but the Matador included a radio command that allowed in-flight course corrections. This allowed accuracy to be maintained over greatly extended ranges of just under 1000 km. Matador was armed with the W5 nuclear warhead, essentially an improved version of the Fat Man design that was lighter and had a smaller cross section. First flown in 1949, Matador entered service in 1952 and left service in 1962.

Martin Baltimore Introduces “The Missile Man”, 29 minutes

Cape Canaveral Space Force Museum: (The video cassette from which this film was digitized was marked as a silent film. An audio track was detected on the tape, however the audio was very low. We’ve corrected the audio volume as best we can, however there is a loud background hum.)

“MATADOR” ROBOT BOMBING – 1951, 1 minute

Footage of test launches of the Matador.

Wikipedia, Atomic Archive, and Designation Systems.
A “Spotter’s Guide” to the Matador and the closely related Mace missile, from U.S. Air Force Tactical Missiles, by George Mindling and Robert Bolton, dedicated entirely to the Matador and Mace missiles. Scroll down for many interesting quotes and photographs.
A photo of an unassembled Matador from Popular Mechanics (August 1954).
The Space Force Museum at Cape Canaveral has recently unveiled its newly restored Matador. In 2001 they published a history (written by Roy McCullough) of the missile systems at the Cape, which includes the Matador in context with the history of missile systems in general and, starting on page 62, a detailed discussion of the Matador itself.
Another history of US cruise missiles, including the Matador, at Greg Goebel’s AirVectors.net.
Matadors were deployed to both Taiwan and South Korea. This “top secret” post was sent by Ambassador Rankin outlining his thoughts on transferring Matadors to Taiwan (within range of mainland China). This 1999 article, “Where They Were,” in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists, summarizes these deployments.
Hans M. Kristensen and Robert S. Norris wrote “A history of US nuclear weapons in South Korea” in The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists in 2017.
The Department of Defense has its own history of the Matador (and other cruise missiles). Many photos that I haven’t seen anywhere else–scroll down for an image of a Matador on a launch vehicle that has “tipped over,” cracking it in two.
How the web used to be: A personal history of the Matadors at the Taipei Air Station in the late 1950s (the blog author posts photos of himself stationed there at the time but doesn’t give his name).
The early arms race was a strange time as demonstrated by this proposal by The Martin Aircraft Company (the makers of the Matador) to attach a Matador to each wingtip of their XB-51 medium bomber. You have to see the drawings to believe it.
Scale modelers are serious about their craft as you can see in this supposedly 1:48 scale Hawk Model Company build. Museums take models seriously, too. Here’s one, from a kit made by Topping Model, Inc., at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum (though it is not on display).